brassellsinnyc

LOT'S TO TELL!!

Griff started 1st grade & Macy started pre-k...

We took a trip to Cape Cod & Nantucket with Mimi & Poppy...
Macy turned 4 and had a polkadot party!

Cousins Bailey & Brooke, Coll, Frank & mom-mom visited Larchmont!

It's been a busy and exciting month!

Updates!

We're in the full swing of summer and enjoying every minute! Griffin is at camp daily from 9-3 while Macy and I enjoy some one-on-one time. We're loving living in this small town. There are lot's of fun things to do including the farmers market, movies and music in the park as well as hanging out at the town pool. It's fun to live in a place where everytime I leave my house I run into several people we know!

The kids are growing like weeds! Next month my baby turns 4 and my other baby starts first grade!

Oh... one more thing...Chris and I are looking forward to the American Idol concert tonight!!!

Hopefully won't be too long before my next post. I guess I've been literally enjoying the lazy days of summer!

Fun in the DR

Took a vacation to Dominican Republic and loved it!!! Direct flight on JetBlue and the resort was only about 5 miles from the airport.... a great get-away for the Brassell Family!

GRIFF'S BIG DAY

I honestly can't belive my itty bitty boy is 6. I've actually been pretty emotional about it. Not that this age means anything in particular - just that it's hitting me that he's becoming independent and needs his mommy less and less... sniff, sniff.

Anyway - his birthday party was a huge success. Started out with snake invitations complete with googly eyes... and we got 28 RSVP's and only 1 regret. Of course, my wheels were spinning. Where in the world are all these kids (and parents) gonna go? First thing I did was to make it clear that parents are welcome to DROP OFF their kids! That was very well received. Second thing was to get the basement in shape in a hurry. Definitely wasn't warm enough to eat outside, and eating in my living room was out of the question. So after a few weekends of schlepping, painting, stringing lights, buying a rug, and more schlepping the basement was party ready. The kids arrived and listened intently to the "snake and lizard" guy for a whole hour. He was AMAZING and well worth the 'how much? are you kidding me? price tag'. Then the kids headed down to the basement full of balloons, party favors, banners, bagel bites, cheez-its, and cupckes.. oh and gummy worms too! Everyone loved it and Griff was in heaven... surrounded by everyone who loves him. Thanks Mimi for making the trip. Wouldn't have been the same without you here!

mountains, crayons & mountains

Got a chance to go to 'the moutain house' (rob & carol's mountain house) again a few weeks ago. Snowed about 7 or 8" while we were there... soooooooo amazing. We saw lot's and lot's of deer but no bear, thank goodness. Little side note. Griff calls it 'our mountain house' and even wrote a book about it at school! A boy with a dream.
Then last weekend we decided to take a little family get-away to the Poconos. We stopped off at the Crayola Factory on the way... the kids loved it. Then we spent the night at a hotel (after eating at two chain restaurants that day - yippee)! Seriously, we couldn't get enough of the cheap kids menus and free refills!! Woke up early on Sunday and headed to Camelback Mountain to go 'snow tubing'. Macy wasn't too thrilled with it - but the rest of us loved it. We'll definitley go back next year, and plan to ski too. Griffin is anxious to get some of those fancy tags that all the kids have hanging off their zippers! :)

Learning about Larchmont...

okay... so we only have 2 gas stations in town and they are both full-serve. Filling up my small SUV was over $70 last week (ouch).

hasn't anyone heard of a drive-through in this town? What I wouldn't do for a starbucks or dunkin' donuts with a drive through! But oh no, that wouldn't be asthetically pleasing! And what would be so wrong about getting some type of 'order at the front' restaurant. A cross between fast food and not fast food. I remember the good ol' days of Tin Star, Souper Salad, Chipotle, Pei Wei, and Cafe Express. Heaven forbid they sell food in this town without a proper waitress.
Not so convenient with the kiddos!

remember when I first moved to NY and had people asking me "where do you summer"? Well... now it's "where do you ski"? It's not "do you ski"? or "are you going skiing this year"? It's "where" do you ski? 3 out of 4 cars in this town have ski racks on their cars. There are lot's of resort options within an hour of us. Who knew?! Must be a fun (and expensive) day trip!

even so. we love our little larchmont. meeting great people everyday. thinking about starting a supper club... all I need is one more thing on my 'plate'! :)

New Music!! Eric Hutchinson!

Keepin' my peeps in the loop!! (ya right.) I'm just an old lady trying to feel hip! :)
We saw a GREAT band last weekend. He's coming to Dallas and Tulsa soon - definitely check him out!! He's fantastic!!!

www.myspace.com/erichutchinson

Updates!

We love living in the 'burbs of NY!!

Did you know Chris saw a deer walking home from the train station the other day? It jumped right in front of him in the street!

We've had lot's of snow already! We have a steep driveway so the kids can sled right here at home.

Griffin turns 6 next month - I can't believe it! He's 'mr. social' and wants to invite 25 kids to the party - yikes!! We plan to have the "snake and lizard man" come to our house bringing lot's of those icky things. Erin S.... I'm sure you'll want to make the trip to NY for that one!

Macy is a hoot. She LOVES to sing and dance and wear 20 different outfits a day! She's SUCH a girly girl. She knows every single word to every Hanna Montana song.

We finally cleaned out our basement to make it into a pseudo playroom. There's a couch, tv, mini-tramp, arcade basketball game, art easel and kids table. Oh and also the washer/dryer, boiler, water heater and pipes galore! It's not pretty - but it's a fun little hide-out for the kids! I love having a basement!

Still going to our church in the City. The commute is so easy - especially on Sunday. It takes about 20 minutes. It's great b/c we usually spend the day there every Sunday visiting our old favorites!

Summer Camp! I had no idea it was such a HUGE thing! I guess maybe it's a "northern" thing but there is so much pressure to get into a good camp. I hadn't even considered it. I think we'll be just fine doing the pool everyday and maybe a VBS or two (I wish)! :)

Libbie loves it here! Back in the land of the trees.... it's been a long time (since we lived in Lakewood). She loves to chase the black squirrels and chipmunks.

We were sad not to get to go to Tulsa this year for Christmas but we made the best of it! We put up the 15 food (wt) Santa - which I'm sure the neighbors loved! We had a big Christmas party with friends from the City and new friends from the neighborhood.. and we even had live music! We also made the trip to see Santa at Macy's (it's worth the trip - even from TX or OK) and the fantastic lights on 5th Ave., and the tree at Rock Center! Christmas Season in NY is the best!